Duisburg Housing by Foster + Partners

Duisburg Inner Harbour

Duisburg Housing, Duisburg, Germany
1997-2001Foster + Partners

The largest inland harbour in the world

Photos : Nigel Young, Foster & Partners

In 1991 the practice won an international competition to masterplan Duisburg Inner Harbour. The scheme, set on an 89-hectare site, aims to connect the inner city with the waters edge and with areas north of the harbour. It includes new construction and selective refurbishment to provide residential, social and cultural accommodation together with commercial and light-industrial buildings.

The masterplan includes terraced housing with a total of 68 low-cost apartments. They are built alongside canals, bringing the buildings into contact with the waters edge. The majority are single-storey flats in two different sizes (a 77 m2 one-bedroom flat and a 93 m2 two-bedroom flat). Larger maisonette flats with double-height living spaces are located on the corners where they overlook the new city-park and the new canals.

The flats are accessed via day-lit stairwells that offer direct access to the south-facing communal garden at ground level. The end blocks are fitted with lifts. The semi-basement car park is linked to the stairwells and also houses refuse stores, plant rooms and individual storage spaces.

Photos : Nigel Young, Foster & Partners

The flats are north-south orientated. The living and dining area are located on the south side and the bedrooms to the north. Each flat has a terrace, balcony or veranda. The south-facing veranda spaces have been designed to maximise the useable area in the flats. They are activated by opening the 2.40-metre-wide, full-height sliding windows and by closing an internal glass sliding wall, which acts as a thermal curtain. This prevents heat loss during spring and autumn.

The glass area with external shading is maximised to the south to gain passive solar energy during colder periods. The solid areas of the north side are clad with ceramic tiles in a colour to match the bricks of the existing grain store buildings opposite. District heating is provided for heating; rainwater is collected and distributed to the nearby canal.